Need to stay on top of crucial data but not sure how best to do it? Want to improve communication across your team? Widget-based dashboards provide at-a-glance metrics that can be customized for different team-members
One of the most important aspects of running a successful e-commerce business is making data-driven decisions. Whether by monitoring market trends, product performance, restock plans or ad campaign success, reacting to changing conditions based on real-time data is critical. Teamwork and communication is just as important: when your team-members aren’t in sync, even well-laid plans go awry.
In recent years, many Amazon sellers have opted for automated seller software to gather data and streamline communications. Here we outline the most important features to look for when choosing a software.
The Full Suite of Seller Tools
There are lots of different seller software’s out there, but not all of them offer the full suite of seller tools. For instance, there are software’s designed specifically for inventory management, or those designed to provide analytics for things like positive and negative product reviews. To save time and money however, you’ll want to keep an eye out for software that offers a full suite of seller tools in one package.
Ideally, you’ll want something that provides inventory management tools, data on market and sales trends, and analytics covering things like marketing campaign performance and how your prices and cost of goods sold affect revenue. If you can customize dashboards for your different teams, all the better. Below are some of the most crucial aspects to consider when choosing a seller software.
Inventory Management
One of the biggest hurdles for Amazon sellers is effective inventory management—here are key software widgets that help automate the restock process and eliminate stockouts.
Current Inventory by Warehouse
Look for software that can show you your inventory according to its location. You’ll want to be able to ship inventory from different warehouses and keep tabs on inventory levels across several different warehouses from a single screen. You’ll also want detailed metrics about your asset value in an easy-to-read table, so you’ll know exactly how much of your capital is tied up in inventory.
Lost Revenue
Another crucial metric for successful Amazon selling is lost revenue. While no one likes to see it, knowing exactly how much revenue you lost due to out-of-stock is vital for making timely changes and staying ahead of the next restock cycle. You’ll want to know how much revenue was lost due to out-of-stock over the last 30 days, as well as predict any revenue that might be lost in the next 30 days depending on your restock habits. Many sellers rely on guesswork, which is a surefire way to lose far more revenue than intended.
Recent FBA Shipments
Naturally, you’ll also want to know about any recently shipped FBA orders. You’ll want software that can track shipment status and ideally, generate restock suggestions based on this status. With Amazon’s recently imposed restock limits due to supply chain pressures, it’s especially important to know exactly where you stand with your FBA shipments and when you should (and can) begin restocking.
Trends
While all marketplaces are fluid and dynamic, this is especially true in the e-commerce space. What this means for Amazon sellers is that even established businesses suffer if they simply maintain old habits without staying on top of the latest trends. There are a few different trend-types you’ll want to monitor in order to maximize profit.
Global Marketplaces
While the US is no doubt one of the largest marketplaces for online sellers, you don’t want to restrict your attention to America alone. Knowing how the different global marketplaces stack up can help you anticipate vital trends, predict demand, and price your products accordingly. The best seller softwares will let you compare multiple marketplaces in simple columns or graphs. If you can add or remove marketplaces depending on your focus, even better.
Products with Repeat Orders
It goes without saying that knowing which products are your best performers is critical information. Accessing this information quickly and easily can be difficult, however. That’s why the better seller softwares will show you products with repeat orders and let you track both repeat customers as well as repeat SKUs. Knowing your target demographic will help you optimize your product listings and increase your efficiency.
Listing Competitors
Last but not least, you always want to stay one step ahead of your competitors. If you can find software that will gather data from your top competitors and consolidate it in one place, you’ll be able to learn from their mistakes as well as from their successes. Look for software that gives you access to your top competitors’ key metrics such as any similar items, the times these items won the Buy Box and their customer feedback.
Marketing
Amazon sellers focus quite a bit on their marketing campaigns, sometimes to their detriment. Though it always seems like a good idea to reinvest profits in additional campaigns, even campaigns you think are succeeding might not be ultimately worth it. The right seller software will help you zoom in on your different campaigns to make sure your ROI is where it should be.
Ad Campaign Performance
Ideally, the seller software you choose will show you metrics from multiple ad campaigns in one place. You’ll of course want to compare your ad spend to sales trends in the wake of the campaign, but also look out for metrics like click-through rate, number of conversions and ACoS. The more intuitive the presentation, the better. Great seller softwares will rank your campaigns automatically, so you’ll know right away which are your top performers.
Analytics
Guesswork is what leads many online businesses to go under. The only way to make good business decisions is to make data-driven decisions. You’ll be in a great place if you can find a software that gives you real-time analytics across multiple domains. Even small discrepancies between how you think your business is doing and how it’s actually doing can create a ripple effect that becomes insurmountable.
Product Reviews Analysis
One of the more helpful analytics to look for is a product reviews analysis. Some softwares will let you automate your request for review campaigns, but at the very least you’ll want to know whether you’re getting enough reviews on average to increase product visibility. You’ll definitely want to know as soon as any neutral or negative reviews come in, so you can respond professionally or change suppliers if your products are defective.
Auto Repricer Analysis
Sick of losing revenue in your attempts to win the Buy Box? Great software will provide automated repricing suggestions based on the latest market data. Many sellers stumble by dropping their price too much for the sake of the Buy Box. It takes precise data to win without dropping prices any more than is absolutely necessary. Keep an eye out for seller software that automates this process and uses data-driven insights to provide repricing suggestions.
Summary
Making data-driven business decisions and ensuring sure your team has access to the data they need is critical for long-term success in the e-commerce space. Because of how dynamic online markets can be, many Amazon sellers have opted for automated seller software that provides easy-to-read dashboards where they can assess their business’ performance at a glance. But finding a software that offers the full suite of tools necessary to maximize profit can be tricky.
At SellerMobile, we’ve designed automated seller software that includes all the tools our founders used to achieve success in the e-commerce space. In addition to the tools outlined above, we also provide customizable widgets that help sellers zoom in on metrics such as:
- An Order Status Summary that provides a snapshot of order volume and status over customizable time ranges
- An Orders Geo Map that displays geotagged sales sorted by the highest order rates
- A Comparison Graph by Channel that shows an analysis of your competitors over time frames you can set yourself
Make sure to be thorough and selective when choosing the automated seller software you think will best serve your business’ needs. Something important to look out for is whether the software offers privacy features that protect your Seller Central account. SellerMobile employs such a feature by providing separate custom dashboards for investors, brand managers and VAs without giving them access to your Seller Central account directly. If you’re interested in giving SellerMobile a try or comparing it to other softwares, simply reach out to start a 14-day free trial with no strings attached. Best of luck!
